Steve Aoki - Neon Future II

Steve Aoki
Neon Future II
2015

Calling anything Steve Aoki does formulaic is a bit of a misnomer since he essentially created a whole genre onto himself. Neon Future II follows the same path that its predecessor did, an exploration of futurist themes aimed at bringing something from the future into today and making sure you can dance your ass off to it. However Neon Future II is a bit of a departure in its depth and heart. Whereas a lot of EDM can loose heartfelt emotion for heavy bass beats this record does nothing of the sort. Aoki finds a space for both to exist. The record is star studded featuring Snoop Lion, Linkin Park, Mathew Koma and the most shocking of them all Rivers Cuomo. While Koma and Cuomo's tracks are quite impressive Snoop Dogg's alter ego falls completely flat on a generic sounding dance song and Snoop's performance adds almost nothing.

The track with the most heart and the most interesting beat is "I Love it When You Cry (Moxoki)". The vocals are hauntingly deep while still managing to create something you can nod your head to. "Home We'll Go (Take My Hand)" is where Aoki really takes a risk trying his hand at making a countryish song, and it really works. There is just enough Americana guitar and banjo that blends itself into a real great dance track. More than anything this album is fun, and explores a theme that quite often can lead to dark and bleak scenarios. JJ Abrams lends his voice to the final outro chronicling the future of human evolution and exploration leaving the listener with a final glimmer of hope for the Neon Future Aoki is hoping for. If you thought Steve Aoki was done growing, take a listen to Neon Future II and get schooled.

7.8 out of 10